JUPITER, Fla. -- Marlins manager Don Mattingly is focused on the business of baseball, not on speculation that the club might be sold or reports that team owner Jeffrey Loria is in consideration to become ambassador to France.
"I don't worry about things I can't control," Mattingly said. "It's the same with this ballclub. If you play professionally, you know how to cut out distractions. So anything that would be peripheral to that, for me, is just noise."
The players and staff reported to the third day of Spring Training on Thursday morning with the organization already in the news. On Wednesday night, the New York Post reported Loria is under serious consideration to be appointed as United States Ambassador to France.
Reports have also surfaced that Loria has been in discussions with a group that includes Joshua Kushner to sell the Marlins. Kushner's brother Jared is married to Ivanka Trump, the president's daughter, and serves as senior advisor to the president.
The Kushner family on Wednesday night announced it will not pursue purchasing the Marlins if Loria becomes an ambassador to France.
The club has made no formal comment on reports of a potential sale, or on the reports that Loria is in the mix to become an ambassador. Mattingly has dealt with ownership speculation in the past, when he was with the Dodgers a few years ago.
"If we make sure that we understand, we don't control that," Mattingly said. "If the guys are worried about what the [media] is saying about them, or what's on Twitter, none of that stuff has anything to do with us winning games."
"So it really gets back to the simplicity of being prepared to play, making sure we stay on track, and we're thinking. The one thing we control, as players, is between the white lines. That's what we talk about."